Veliki Ustyug state museum-reserve of history, architecture and art

The year of the museum foundation is considered 1910, when an ancient church depository – the first museum in the city – was opened in the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsky monastery. In November 1918, initiated by the local intellectuals Museum of the Northern Dvina culture was opened in order to save the valuable collections of units, documents and books from the church depositary. The local lore museum in 1988 got the status of the museum-reserve. There are more than 90 thousand units, most of which are unique, in the museum stock. The museum is proud of collections of icon painting, books, local handicrafts and numismatics. More than 10 new exhibitions open in the museum halls annually, the expositions are renewed all the time. The monuments of architecture of XVII-XVIII centuries with preserved iconostasis and monumental painting are demonstrated to the visitors. In 2010 the museum marked its 100-th anniversary.

The local temples and monasteries, civil buildings are valuable monuments of architecture and history. Most of them are under the charge of the museum – in total there are 26 monuments.

The Dormition and Procopius cathedrals in the cathedral court, temples of the Trinity-Gleden and Mikhailo-Arkhangelsky monasteries, churches of Ascension, Simeon Stolpnik and Nikola and the temples of the Dymkovo churchyard are of special value. In the interior of many churches the carved gilded many-tire iconostasis of the 18th century is survived.

In the Usov’s House, in churches of Ascension, Nikola and Mironositsk the museum expositions are placed. The access inside the Dormition cathedral, Mikhailo-Arkhangelsky and Trinity-Gleden monasteries, the top temple of Simeon Stolpnik and churches of Dymkovo churchyard is not allowed.

Cathedral of Procopius and the ground temple of Simeon Stolpnik are under the joint charge of the Veliki Ustyug museum-reserve and the parishes of the Vologda eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Expositions

1. Museum of Veliki Ustyug history
2. Museum of nature
3. Museum of ethnography
4. Museum of Russian ancient art
5. Museum of New Year toys
6. Open stocks
7. Small exhibition hall